Cornell University Leaders Visit WCMC-Q
The Cornell visitors were President Jeffrey S. Lehman, Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College and Provost for Medical Affairs for Cornell University, Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., M.D., D. Phil., and Executive Vice Dean and Associate Provost, Steven P. Rosalie.
President Lehman met with Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, wife of the Emir of Qatar and Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, and with senior leaders of the Foundation. He also held discussions with WCMC-Q faculty, and took time out to chat with pre-medical students.
Among the issues he discussed with the students were their experiences at this, the third campus of Cornell University, the demands of the Pre-medical Program of studies, and their views about distance learning in practice, after taking the Psychology 101 classes broadcast from Cornell in Ithaca throughout the fall semester. Another topic of discussion was the establishment of closer ties with fellow students at the U.S. campuses, and creating opportunities for travel and study overseas.
During a stay of several days, Dean Gotto, who is also Professor of Medicine at WCMC-NY, notched up some notable 'firsts' - among them, the first ever Grand Rounds presented by a faculty member of WCMC at the Hamad Medical Corporation, and the first public lecture to be delivered at WCMC-Q.
In Grand Rounds, entitled "Statins, inflammation and cardiovascular disease: present and future perspectives," Dean Gotto examined in detail the research carried out into the prevention and treatment of heart disease over the past 40 years, with particular reference to controlling levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol through the use of diet, exercise, and the class of drugs known as statins.
Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., M.D., D. Phil.
He went on to look at research into possible future therapies, including the development of drugs to raise levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL); and at potential benefits to be derived from using statins as a therapy for patients with other, unrelated, inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
Dean Gotto later delivered a public lecture at WCMC-Q on the subject of the prevention and treatment of heart attacks. Clear, concise and geared towards giving the audience advice they could take away and use in their daily lives, the lecture was extremely informative, said WCMC-Q student services assistant Heather Chapple, who suffers from familial hypercholesterolemia: "I found out more information about cholesterol than I've read in the past 5 years," she commented after the lecture.
During his stay in Doha, Dean Gotto made use of the highly advanced technology within the WCMC-Q building in the first–ever live broadcast from the branch campus in Qatar to students and their families gathered at Weill Cornell in New York City. The broadcast, which formed part of the Family Day at the New York campus, went smoothly: "it worked without a hitch," Dean Gotto commented afterwards.
For highlights of the Leadership visit Click Here 
For more detailed reports on the visit by Cornell leaders to WCMC-Q in May, please see the forthcoming issue of the Weill Cornell Qatar Chronicle, the Newsletter of the Medical College in Qatar, due out in late June.
